


Why aren’t you?

by spacedust719



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, College, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 10:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18870961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedust719/pseuds/spacedust719
Summary: Could Joe Mazzello be your soulmate?





	Why aren’t you?

**Author's Note:**

> Soulmate AU - when two soulmates meet for the first time, they get a tattoo of the other person’s name. The tattoos show up on the same spot on each person.

You were sitting in the back of the class making doodles on the edge of your paper. You hadn’t been able to fit statistics into your schedule your first 3 years of college because of your lab schedule. You used statistics in a lot of your science classes so it didn’t really seem necessary, but it was required for you graduate. So here you were in a class full of freshman. You saw one freshman you recognized from the microbiology lab section you TA’ed this morning. He eagerly waved at you from his seat in front when you came in. You gave him an amused smile back wondering how long a college workload would take to crush his apparent enthusiasm. He reminded you of your freshman roommate who never came back after fall break. You hoped he didn’t meet the same fate. She told you she was ready to quit school about a month into the semester. 

            She had also meet her soulmate on her way home for fall break. She was at a gas station filling up before driving home. She talked to a guy at the pump casually. When she went to take the nozzle out of her tank, she noticed the name “Walter” on her forearm that hadn’t been there before. He had a LOT of family money. That beat college. You tried telling yourself you weren’t jealous because Walter was an old man name. In actuality, you really wish you could met your soulmate already. The longer college went on, more of your friends had names appear on them. Luckily your roommate Lucy was still unmarked. Lucy was amazing, intelligent, and gorgeous. It comforted you that she hadn’t met her soulmate either because everyone that met her loved her. She had helped you stop looking over your body after meeting someone new. Telling you not worry about it because it would happen when it happened. It had been a full year since you met someone and then rushed home to check for a name on your body.

You were broken out of your deep thoughts by shuffling around you. You hadn’t noticed the teacher dismissed class. You picked up your notebook, put it in your bag, and left the classroom. You noticed people coming into the building were wet. It had started raining while you were in class. You were standing on the stairs under part of the building’s upper floor trying to mentally prepare yourself to walk in the rain to your next class. 

There was a very happy male voice behind you, “I love my mom.” You turned around curious what college student would profess that randomly. You saw an adorable guy with reddish brown hair behind you pulling an umbrella out of his book bag with a smug smile on his face explaining his mom told him it was going to rain.

You had a sudden surge of courage, “Where are you going?”

He looked down at you, “The union.”

You smiled pleadingly, “Would you be willing to walk me to Williams on the way under your umbrella? Please?” It really wasn’t out of the way. Just a small detour around the fountain between where you were and the union.

He flashed a brilliant smile, “of course” and walked down the rest of the steps, opening the umbrella on the way down. He waited for you to get under the umbrella before leaving the safety of the building overhang. 

“Hi, I’m Joe by the way.” 

“Hello, I’m Y/N. Thanks for sharing. I’m sure I’ll be even more appreciative in my next class when I’m dry. So Joe, where are you from?”

“Hyde Park, New York. Yourself?”

“Richmond, Virginia. What year are you?”

Joe grabbed your elbow and pulled you out of the way of a guy on a bike, “You okay?” You nodded. “I’m a senior film major. You?”

“Same, only microbiology.” 

“Makes since since you’re going to a science building.” You chuckled at his assessment. “Well, Y/N from Virginia, I believe this is your stop. It was nice meeting you. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

You smiled up at him, “I’d like that. Thanks again. Have a good afternoon.” When you got inside the door, you glanced over your shoulder. Joe was still standing there watching you walk off. He startled and quickly walked off when you made eye contact with him.

 

============

 

You were sitting in the back of your statics class again looking through your bag looking for the sandwich you packed. You sighed realizing you couldn’t remember actually taking it off the counter, “crap.”

“It’s Joe, actually.”

Your head snapped up to the desk next to you. “Hey! I don’t remember seeing you in here Monday.”

“I wasn’t. I was able to get into a Music in Film class so I had to switch stats classes.”

“I’m glad there’s another senior in here. I felt old.”

“Happy to help you out again. Why were you gently cursing your bag?”

You laughed, “I forgot to pack my lunch.”

Joe shook his head, “what would you do without me?” He reached into his own bag and pulled out a giant bag of Twizzlers. He opened it and extended it to you. You laughed and took one. Joe took one for himself, bit off the ends and stuck it in his soda using it as a straw. You rested your head on your hand watching Joe do all this. 

He raised both eyebrows at you, “What? Have you never seen someone do that?”

You laughed under your breath, “Not in the last decade.”

           The professor started lecturing, cutting off your conversation with Joe. When you finished your first twizzler, Joe held the bag back out for you to take another. He continued doing it until you shook your head since you were full now. After class, Joe walked you to your next class again. 

          Before Friday’s class you are sitting out in the hallway because the door is locked. Joe comes and sits next to you.

         “Did you remember your lunch today?”

         “Overslept and didn’t have time to make one.”

         Joe smiled, “are you allergic to peanut butter?” You shook your head. “Are you repulsed by peanut butter and pickle sandwiches?”

         You stared at Joe for a second. No one outside of your family had ever agreed with you that that was a good combination. 

        “I’m going to take that look as a yes. I’ll just eat both then.” Joe pulled two sandwiches out of his bag.

        “I was just surprised. Everyone tells me that’s disgusting. My roommate, Lucy, won’t let me eat them in front of her. Did you bring an extra sandwich for me?”

        Joe handed you one of the sandwiches, then stood up because the professor was walking down the hall. “Course I did. My suite mate, Ben, is a pre-Dentistry major. He’s almost always in class or lab or in the library. I figured you were the same way and wouldn’t have time for lunch. This is my first class of the day. I had time.” He held out a hand to help you off the floor. 

        You were touched. “Thanks, Joe. I appreciate it.” When you guys sat down in class, Joe pulled out gummy dinosaur candy. He spent his time in class drawing backgrounds around the different dinosaurs. You were struggling not to laugh. After about 20 minutes, the professor caught on and called Joe out for trying to flirt during class instead of taking notes. You both looked embarrassed. Joe behaved himself for the rest of class. As Joe was walking with you after class, he asked to borrow your notes. 

       When you got home for the day, you went into your room and started looking for a tattoo on your body hoping you’d find Joe’s name. 

 

============

Lucy came home to find you sitting on the sofa crying. You were also in just your bra and underwear. 

“Oh, honey! What happened?” She sat down next to you and put her arm around you.

“Please don’t be disappointed me in. I was checking for a tattoo.”

Lucy squeeze you tighter to her, “I’m not disappointed in you. You like someone. There’s nothing wrong with being hopeful. Was it the umbrella guy?”

“Yeah, umbrella guy is also known as Joe. He brought me a peanut butter and pickle sandwich today because he assumed I was too busy to get my own lunch.” You pouted at her.

Lucy’s eyes got big, “Did you check thoroughly? Stand up. Let me help. There is no way that’s a coincidence. It’s too disgusting.”

You started laughing as you stood in front of her and she started looking over your back and the back of your legs. You lifted your hair so she could check the back of your neck. She patted your shoulder, “sorry, babes. I don’t see anything.”

You sighed, “I guess I’ll put some pants on then.”

 

==============

 

You returned to stats class resigned to your fate of just being friends with Joe. In some ways, it was really easy. He was funny, kind, and considerate. These same reasons were what made it difficult when he did something particularly cute. Such as when he was late for class one day and told you it was because he found a lost dog and was waiting for the owner to pick it up. 

You and Joe got into a pattern of both of you bringing parts of lunch you would both share. You would switch off bringing sandwiches and other other bringing some sort of side. He would scoff on the days when you brought something healthy like carrots instead of chips. He’d always have candy with him as dessert.  After class, he would walk you to your next class. After about a month of this pattern, Joe seems twitchy while walking with you.

“Did you eat too many M&Ms? You’re all fidgety?”

Joe sighed, “Yeah, I’m just… Do you understand stats?”

You nod, “Yeah, I’ve actually done most of the stuff in other classes.”

Joe grasps onto arm tightly, “will you please, please, please help me study? I’ve put off taking a math class for a reason.”

“Of course! I can’t tonight, it’s roommate dinner night. I can tomorrow anytime after 5.”

Joe releases your arm, but just moves his arm so its hooked in yours. “You’re the best. I’m glad to hear you have a roommate dinner. I worry you don’t eat when I’m not providing the food.” 

You scoff and playfully push him. “I also bring food!”

Joe laughs and pulls you back next to him. “Do you want to meet at the Schlicht library at 7 tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I can do that. You know you can’t bring candy in there?”

Joe moans and jokes he may not be able to survive. “I’ll see you then. Have fun in class.” He winks at you and continues walking as you head into the building. 

 

You arrive in the library and text Joe to see where he’s at. When you find his table, he has a giant grin on his face as he pulls out the chair next to him. You thought it was odd he wanted you to sit next to him but when along with it. He leans over and whispers, “I have skittles in my bookbag if you want some.”

You laugh and shake your head at him. “Why do you always have candy?”

Joe shrugs, “it helps me study.”

You’re skeptical, “does it?”

“No. I just like candy.”

You laugh loudly and the librarian glares over at you. “I printed off a practice test off of the book company’s website. How about you do that and if there are any you have issues with, I’ll talk you through them?”

Joe gets a pencil out of his bag, “Lay it on me.” He is looking at the first question for about thirty seconds before he turns to you. “Do you have any siblings?”

You lean over and squint at the test, “Is that one of the questions?”

Joe laughs, “No, we’ve just never talked about it. I’ll go first. I have one of each.”

“I have two of each.” You smile at him and tap the test. Joe sighs and starts working on the test. You pull out your physics homework. All you’ve done is open the book to the right chapter and Joe starts talking again.

“Do you have any pets?”

You cover your face with both your hands. “I live in a dorm. We had a plant but it died.”

Joe gasps, “You’re a biology major. You should know how to take care of a plant.”

The librarian shushes Joe. You whisper, “I’m not a botany major. I’m a microbiology major. I’m sure there are plenty of microorganisms alive in my dorm.

“Eww!” Joe says this loudly and the librarians shushes Joe louder than the first time.

You giggle and roll you eyes at him, “Joe, there is bacteria alive on and in you right now.

Joe is even louder when he says eww again. As you are about to tell him it’s normal and healthy, the librarian starts walking over to your table. She kicks you guys out. Joe suggests going to his dorm because it’s closer.  Studying at Joe’s is somehow even less productive. You hadn’t even bothered getting out your homework and you had been there for a hour. Joe had started tell you about his siblings on the walk over. Sibling stories turned in stories about friends. You are turned facing him on the couch while he animatedly tells you a story about his roommate Ben and some other of their friends going streaking and getting caught by the cops. You are crying from laughing so hard. Suddenly, a blond man barges into the room and immediately takes his shirt off in front of the mirror. You looked at who you assume is Ben and then back at Joe quickly.

Joe mumbles, “he does this.”

Ben gunts, “damn, I like redheads.”

Joe smirks, “So you’re just looking for a fill-in for me?”

Ben says “obviously” dryly then looks over at you, “you got your tattoo?”

“Nope” You make the P pop. 

Ben sighs, “I guess I’ll do my homework then. Nice meeting you. You’re Y/N, right?”

You bit on the corner of your lip so you don’t get a huge smile on your face. You nod. When you look back at Joe, he is suddenly very interested in his practice test. 

After Joe finishes the practice test and you explain a few concepts to him, he asks if you want to watch a movie. Ben comes out and sits on the loveseat to watch with you guys. You end up falling asleep on the sofa with your feet in Joe’s lap. You wake up in the morning to the sound of Ben making coffee. You whine and rub your face. Your phone tells you it’s 0630. If you sprint, you should be able to make it to your room with enough time to change and get to the lab section you teach. Ben turns and sees your awake. 

He gives you a half smile, “Morning.”

You start putting your shoes on. “Good morning.”

“You want a cup?” He shakes the coffee pot. 

You yawn, “I think the mad dash to my dorm to change will wake me up enough.”

Joe’s voice behind you startles you, “You can borrow a shirt. Come in here.” You stand and walk into Joe’s room. He opens a drawer. “Take your pick. I went to the dentist last week. You can use the free toothbrush they gave me. I’ll be out there so you can change.” When you go back into the living room, Joe is at the very small kitchen like area getting out bread. He turns around and smiles at you then immediately pouts. “My shirt looks better on you.” Before you can get embarrassed he asks, “What kind of sandwich do you want for lunch?”

You puff air out of your mouth, “I’m not awake enough to be hungry for something specific. You can pick.”

Joe mumbles to likes he’s talking to himself but you can see him looking at you out of the corner of his eye. “I guess I’ll bring a side dish too since some fell asleep before midnight.”

You laugh, “I’ll bring everything for lunch on Friday.”

Joe gives you a cheesy smile. “Your toothbrush is in the drawer to the right of the sink.”  

You go in the bathroom. It smells likes dudes. You find the toothbrush and start brushing your teeth. Joe comes into the bathroom since you left the door open. 

“I put a granola bar on your bag. I didn’t know if you usually eat breakfast or not. Thanks again for helping me study last night. I really appreciate it. I feel a lot better about the test now.”

You spit out the toothpaste, “You’re welcome. I’m glad you actually learned some stuff. It seemed like we talked the whole night instead of studying.”

Joe smiles, “yeah, we did. That was fun. But I do think I learned some stuff. How about I just sleep in class from now on and then you can teach me later?”

You roll your eyes at him, “Yeah, we aren’t doing that. I gotta go. See you in class.”

Ben is about to leave too. “Where you going?”

“Williams.”

Ben nods, “Me too. After you.” He holds open the door for you. 

Joe yells from the bathroom, “make good choices.”

Ben turns and checks that the door is closed. “You know, I’ve never seen Joe check for a tattoo.”

You hum, “I gave up checking the last couple years.”

Ben looks over at you, “Fuck. I check everyday.” He laughs and you join in. “Anyways, I should really say that I HAD never seen Joe check. He did the first day of this semester.” Ben smirks at you. You realize he’s telling you Joe checked for your name.

You look at the ground before looking back up at Ben, “You aren’t supposed to be telling me this, are you?”

Ben laughs, “Definitely not.”

You chuckle and nod, “I won’t tell Joe.” You walk down the stairs in silence. Once you’re outside, you tell Ben you waited till the third time you talked to Joe to check. You aren’t sure if you want him to keep it to himself or if you want him to tell Joe. You left out that you cried when it wasn’t there.

 

============

 

One Thursday afternoon, you are in the microbiology lab making petri plates. You get a text from Joe asking where you are at. You never a response after you tell him so you continue mixing ingredients. You put the Erlenmeyer flask on the heated stir plate. As you are dropping in the stir rod, you hear someone frantically calling your name in the hallway. You turn down the heat and peak out the door. You see the source of the yelling,

“Joe! What are you doing?”

Joe turns around, “There you are! I knew you were here but had no clue which one was the right lab.”

“So you decided you yell till you found me?”

“Yeah” Joe said this like it was the most obviously solution.

You tugged on his sleeve, “come in here.”

Joe sat on the stool and watched you as you worked. 

You scrunched up your face at him, “Don’t just watch me. Talk. I can multitask.”

“You look smart doing this. It’s cute.”

“Thanks. Heating liquid takes a lot of intelligence.” 

Joe laughs, “What are you doing tomorrow night?” 

You shrug, “No specific plans. Lucy and I usually find something to do.”

“How about you guys come out with Ben and I? Our friend that graduated last year is coming to visit. We’re going to go out…. somewhere.”

“I’ll ask Lucy, but I’m pretty sure she’s free. Count us in.”

“This weekend while Rami is here, he’s going to star in a film I’m making for class. He’s playing a villain to my hero. Will you play his evil head scientist?”

“Sure! I can’t promise I can actually act. Though I was in a school play when I was 12. I had two lines.”

“I’m sure you’ll be great. Dooooo you think we could come in here?” Joe grits his teeth waiting for you to answer.

“It shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll ask the professor.” You drop your voice to a whisper, “I have keys if he says no.”

 

==============

 

That Friday night Lucy and you are getting ready to go out with Joe and his friends. Lucy is putting on some lip gloss.

“Who is this friend joining?”

You shrug, “Rami, he graduated last year.”

Lucy turned to you and leaned against the bathroom counter. She had a sympathetic smile on her face. “Are you sure you want to go hang out with them?”

You take a deep breath, “yes. Joe and I are just friends. It’s fine.”

Lucy shakes her head. “You’re a terrible liar. Let me know at any point if you want to bow out.”

“Thanks, Luc.”

 

When you get to the bar, Joe stands up and greets you with a tight hug. It’s the first time he’s done that. You really like how his arms feel wrapped around you. Lucy makes knowing eye contact with you before you introduce her to Joe and Ben. Joe introduces you both to Rami. You notice Rami keeps glancing over at Lucy. After the third time you see Rami doing this, you look over at Joe and he rolls his eyes. You all start talking to each other and making one another laugh. Lucy starts stealing looks at Rami. Ben has left to go talk to some people in a corner booth. Lucy twists in her chair to get something out of her purse. Her top puckers a bit and you see below her collarbone fancy writing that looks like calligraphy. When she turns back around, you reach across the table and move her shirt slightly. 

Lucy looks down at your hand. “Ahh, Y/N. What are you doing?” It’s the name Rami.

“Well… look.” You turn to talk to Rami. “Rami, can you pull your collar down a bit.”

Rami exposes the same area below this collarbone. The name Lucy is now there in beautiful font. You point to it. Lucy blushes and Rami looks bashful.

Rami puts his hand on top of Lucy’s, “Would you like to go talk somewhere more private?”

Lucy looks to you and you give a small nod. Joe and you watch Lucy and Rami walk off hand in hand. Joe sighs and you turn to look at him.

“We’re supposed to be happy for them, right?”

You quip, “In theory.”

Ben comes back over. “What happened to Rami and Lucy?”

Joe answers simply, “Tattoos.”

Ben smiles, “good for them.” Ben looks better you and Joe. “Fuck, you two look glum.”

“She was my last single friend.”

Joe scoffs and looks offended, “Hey!”

“Sorry, my last single FEMALE friend.”

Joe smirks at you, “better.”

“You have us.” Ben sarcastically says, “I’ll paint my nails with you.”

You laugh at Ben, “Thanks. That was my ONLY concern.”

 

==============

 

Rami’s weekend visit is extended to indefinite since he met Lucy. He has also relocated to staying in your dorm instead of Joe’s. Sunday evening you are hanging out at Joe’s dorm and text Lucy asking when would be a safe time to come home. When she hasn’t responded after an hour, Joe says you can just stay there again. This becomes a bit of a habit. Over the next month, you spend about half of your nights at Joe’s. Ben and Joe found an extra bed in the basement and set it up in Joe’s room. Most of the time you know you’re going to stay at the boy’s place, but not every time. You end up stealing shirts from Joe on the unplanned nights. This is not unnoticed by the students in your lab section.

You are standing in front of the lab explaining the experiment to them, “Each of you has a test tube in front of you with two different strains of bacteria. You will spend the next few weeks using the skills and knowledge you’ve obtained this semester to determine what they are. Does anyone have any questions?”

One of the girls in the back raises her hand, you nod at her, she asks, “Have you met your soulmate? You show up in men’s clothes a lot.” You laugh, smile, and tell her no your roommate did so you stay at your male friends’ dorm a lot.

Her friend sitting next to her adds, “We thought you did because you seem excessively happy too.” You feel your smile fade and your face feels cold compared to how it was moments earlier.

 

=============

 

One Friday night you are in what has essentially become Joe’s and your room watching a movie on his laptop when Ben bursts in and rips off his shirt. You are completely unphased by this now. About the forth time he did this you asked what the deal was. He explained to you that if he had a name on him he didn’t want to waste any time not with them. His actions were a lot sweeter than you had previously thought.

Joe pauses the movie as Ben turns on the light and turns around so Joe can look on his back. Ben then pulls his jeans down. You are really uncomfortable now. It’s more from the fact that you are thinking about how much you want Joe’s name on you, and only slightly from mostly naked Ben.

Joe finishes looking Ben over, “no names, man.”

Ben sighs, “yeah, I’m going to go make out with her anyways. Enjoy your movie.” Ben turns the light back off and leave.

You look over at Joe, “That part is new.”

Joe huffs, “He doesn’t always do it, but says he’s getting practice so he doesn’t disappoint whoever he ends up with.” Joe pauses, “Do you do that?”

You sigh, “No. My soulmate is going to be very disappointed in my skills I guess. I don’t really see the point when you know they aren’t the right person. I’m sure it’s fun and I don’t judge people that do. I just can’t myself. What about you?” You look over at Joe and try not to be jealous if he says he does.

Joe purses his lips and shakes his head, “I’m with you. The right person should be worth waiting for. No matter how much I want to kiss anyone else.” You think he looks a little sad as he looks over at you. Joe takes a deep breath, “I’m not going to lie, I get jealous occasionally when I’ve come home and he’s cuddling with someone on the couch. It looks nice.”

Before you can stop yourself you say, “you can cuddle with me.”

Joe seems to be thinking about it. He leans back on the pillows against wall and holds out his arm, “get in here then.”

You snuggle in next to him. He puts his arm around your shoulders. You want to cry at how content, comfortable, and happy you feel here with Joe. You’re pretty sure you’re in love with him. 

 

==============

 

One day after a terrible day in lab where your professor spent the last hour lecturing everyone on how to properly write a lab report, you were exhausted and went over to Joe’s dorm. Lucy was skipping class and went out of town with Rami. Your dorm was free, but Joe’s was closer. It also has Joe. You let yourself in and threw yourself down on his bed with a groan. Joe laughed and took off his shirt. 

“Ahh, what are you doing, Joe?”

He pulled a different shirt out of his closet, “Trying to find something to wear.” He put on the new one, looked at himself in the mirror, and took it off as well.”

You sit up and quirk an eyebrow at him, “what was wrong with that one? Or the first one?”

Joe grabbed a third shirt, “Ben has recruited me to go on a double date with him.”

You sat up and pinched your eyebrows together, “Why?”

Joe shrugged, “He has been talking to some girl on a dating app. She has a friend. She sounds pretty cool. You think jeans are okay?”

You cooly say, “they’re fine.”

Joe wiggles his eyebrows at you, “maybe I’ll come home with a tattoo.”

You cross your arms on your chest and look away from him.

Joe stands in front of you leaning against the bed, “What’s wrong? You seem pissed.”

You blurt out, “I’m fucking in love with you. That’s what’s wrong. You seem like a perfect fit. Yet, there are no words on my skin.”

Joe’s expression gets very soft, “I know. It sucks. Do you want me to cancel?”

You sound like a petulant child, “Yes.” You make eye contact with Joe. You change to a much softer tone, “No. I have no claim on you. I’m not really going to keep you from potentially meeting your soulmate.” 

Joe sits down next to you and holds your face, “I know you wouldn’t. I also have feelings for you. I’ll stay.”

The tears you had been fighting finally come.”You shouldn’t. Just in case. Maybe it will makes things easier.”  You move around Joe and lay face down on his bed again. You face is against his pillow. Realizing it smells like him, you turn your head back towards Joe. He lays down next to you. His face is closer to yours than it ever has been before.

You sigh, “I really want to kiss you.”

Joe half smiled, “I really want to kiss you too. Do you want me to stay?”

You shook your head.

Joe put his hand on your back between your shoulder blades. “Ben has been trying to convince me to make out with someone so I have practice for my soulmate.”

You eyes get really big.

Joe continues, “I didn't mean… I’m not going to kiss the girl tonight unless my tattoo shows up. I’m not going to kiss you either though. As much as we both want to, deep down I want to wait. I know you do too.

You start welling up again, “Why isn’t it you?”

“I lied. I’m going to kiss your cheek.” Joe leaned forward and kissed your nose.

You laughed, “you missed.”

Joe smiled, “I know. I hoped you would laugh.”

You bit the corner of your bottom lip and closed your eyes, “I love you.”

Joe did kiss your cheek this time. “I love you, too.” He tucked some hair behind your ear. “We probably should have saved that too.”

“Probably.” You blinked slowly. “You should wear the green shirt. It’s a good color on you.”

“Thanks.” Joe gave you a sad smile. “Just so you know. I checked myself for your name again before I agreed to go tonight. Just to make sure we aren’t soulmates.”

You rolled onto your back, “I know I asked this, but WHY aren’t you?”

Joe was really quiet, “I don’t know. It fucking sucks. I always thought I liked this system. Right now, or since I’ve known you, I hate it.”

Ben knocked on the door and came in.

You looked at Joe, “You’re going to be late.”

Joe kissed your cheek again. He whispered in your ear, “love you,” then louder “stay as long as you want.” You rolled over to bury your face in the pillow again.

Ben looked between you and Joe. He could tell something happened. “Night Y/N”

You mumbled in the pillow, “bye Ben.”

 

You woke up to Joe rubbing your back. You had fallen asleep on Joe’s bed after you cried for a while. 

You groaned and opened your eyes, “How was your night?”

“Ben and I both still have pristine skin”

“Sorry.”

Joe shrugged, “You gonna stay here the rest of the night, or you want me to drive you home.”

You swallowed hard, “I don’t really trust myself to not try and kiss you tonight. Can you drop me off?”

 

Joe drove you home and gave you a kiss on the cheek before you unbuckle your seatbelt.

You paused with one hand on your leg and the other on the door handle, “I was thinking about it when you were on your date. I don’t know if we should hang out solo for a while.”

Joe squeezed the hand resting on your leg, looked at you, and rested his head against the headrest. “I understand. I HATE it, but it makes sense.”

You felt tears forming again. “I’ll see you in class.”

 

===============

 

You had only been seeing Joe during class and occasionally out with Ben, and sometimes Rami and Lucy. It had been a few weeks since you had told Joe how you felt. Sure, he reciprocated the feelings but it couldn’t really go anywhere. You started only staying at your dorm again. You can home from class one day and Lucy was watching braiding tutorials on Youtube. She was trying to do them on herself. She half turned when you came in the door.

“Y/N!!! Just in time! Can I try this on you?” 

You agreed, sitting down in the chair she had been in. She was braiding the right side of your hair. She would braid some, pause the video, then braid some more. She moved to the left side of your head. She started sectioning that side of your hair. She suddenly squealed in delight.

She tapped your shoulder, “give me your phone.”

You handed her your phone. She was making little happy noises. She took a picture and handed it back to you.

You looked down at the picture she took. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?!?” You huff, stand up, and comb out the right side of your hair. “Sorry for ruining your work.”

Lucy had a huge smile on her face, “have fun!”

 

You knocked on the door. Ben opens it.

“Hi. Is he here?”

Ben yelled, “Joe” over his shoulder.

Joe came out of his room. You pulled your phone to show in the picture Lucy just took of your scalp.

Joe’s mouth hung open, “What the hell? Is this you?”

“Yes. Lucy took it about ten minutes ago.”

Joe hummed, “Okay.” He tossed your phone on the sofa. He put one hand on your hip and cupped your face with the other. He gently pulled you towards him. He leaned in and you met him halfway. Your lips finally met. It felt like your whole body was on fire. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders, deepening the kiss. You thought you heard Ben say he was leaving.

Joe pulled back. He rested his forehead against yours. He cupped your face with both hands. “I love you. I’ve never heard of a tattoo showing up on someone’s scalp.”

You kissed him and smiled, “me either. You know I love you too.”

Joe smiled back, “I’m sorry I didn’t check there. I hate that we’ve had each other’s names there this whole time.”

You smirked, “I have some ideas on how you can make it up to me. I’ve never done any them. But I have some ideas.” You grabbed his hands with both of yours. You started walking backwards towards his room.

Joe looked more excited than you had ever seen him. “Bedroom?”

You nodded, “Bedroom.”


End file.
